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Congressional Daily Record
This section captures a floor statement or debate entry. It mentions legislation such as Directing the Committee on Ethics to preserve and publicly release records relating to .monetary settlements involving acts of sexual harassment., committees such as Committee on Ethics, members such as Thomas Massie.
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June 30, 2026
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Download official House Record PDFReturn to issue contextMr. MASSIE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to raise a question of the privileges of the House and offer a resolution previously noticed.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Clerk will report the resolution.
The Clerk read as follows:
H. Res. 1399
Whereas transparency is essential for accountability in
government;
Whereas sexual harassment and unwelcome sexual advances by
Members, Delegates, or Resident Commissioners, in violation
of clause 9 and clause 18 of rule XXIII of the Rules of the
House, affect the safety, dignity, and the integrity of the
proceedings of the House of Representatives: Now, therefore,
be it
Resolved, (1) That with respect to reviews, investigations,
or matters which the Committee on Ethics or the Office of
Congressional Workplace Rights have reviewed, conducted, or
facilitated, the Committee on Ethics and the Office of
Congressional Workplace Rights shall, not later than 60 days
after the adoption of this resolution, make publicly
available—
(A) a single consolidated list that sets forth separately
for each Member, Delegate, or Resident Commissioner—
(i) the name of each Member, Delegate, or Resident
Commissioner who was the subject of any review or
investigation involving a violation of clause 9 of Rule XXIII
of the Rules of the House of Representatives, as it pertains
to acts of sexual harassment, or clause 18 of Rule XXIII of
the Rules of the House of Representatives, or any case
involving sexual harassment or sexual abuse, if it resulted
in a payment of taxpayer funds; and
(ii) adjacent to each such name, the total amount of
taxpayer funds included in all settlements, payments,
reimbursements, awards, or other financial considerations
paid in connection with such matters;
(B) the aggregate total amount of taxpayer funds included
in all settlements, payments, reimbursements, awards, or
other financial considerations paid in connection with such
reviews, investigations, or matters involving Members,
Delegates, or Resident Commissioners that did not, in any
portion of the settlement, involve sexual harassment, sexual
abuse, or sexual misconduct;
(C) the aggregate total amount of taxpayer funds included
in all settlements, payments, reimbursements, awards, or
other financial considerations paid in connection with such
reviews, investigations, or matters involving, in part or in
full, sexual harassment, sexual abuse, or sexual misconduct
by employees of the House of Representatives; and
(D) the aggregate total amount of taxpayer funds included
in all settlements, payments, reimbursements, awards, or
other financial considerations paid in connection with such
reviews, investigations, or matters involving
conduct by employees of the House of Representatives that did
not, in any portion of the settlement, involve sexual
harassment, sexual abuse, or sexual misconduct.
(2) That for purposes of this resolution, any such
settlement, payment, reimbursement, award, or other financial
consideration shall be treated as involving sexual
harassment, sexual abuse, or sexual misconduct if sexual
harassment, sexual abuse, or sexual misconduct was any
component of the matter, regardless of whether the matter
also involved, was classified as, or was resolved under
another claim, violation, or category.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The resolution qualifies.
The Chair recognizes the gentleman from Kentucky (Mr. Massie).
Mr. MASSIE. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, in a representative democracy, as we have here, a Republic, if you will, transparency is essential to the operation of government, particularly transparency in the official behavior of the Members of this body, as well as the officers and employees of this body.
way, was a good bill. We always say that Congress should be subject to the same laws as the rest of the country. Well, that is what the 1995 Congressional Accountability Act was about, saying that you can't discriminate or harass your employees just because you are a Member of Congress or an office of the House of Representatives.
payments could be made to settle claims. Presumably, this is in the best interests of the victims of those claims.
there wasn't much clarity in terms of what kind of claims were being paid out. Were they being paid out to settle claims against staff? Were they being paid out to settle claims against Members?
responsible for administrating the law, but there just wasn't enough information in there. That is part of what my privileged resolution here today is about: getting more transparency into what happened in the first 20 years of this program.
and also to impose more accountability. I have a concern that the 2018 bill may not have been carefully drafted and may have left some loopholes that are now open.
the House have paid out settlements and whether those settlements impose a requirement on the Member in that office to pay back that taxpayer money, what I have discovered is that there have been no reports that have reported that any Member of Congress has settled a claim against a staffer for which the Member of Congress is responsible for paying back that claim.
amendment to the Congressional Accountability Act, I see that “covered payments” refer to chapter A of title 2, but when you look at the Code: 2 U.S.C. 1415, harassment is qualified to two other sections of code, referring to race, gender, age, and discrimination against veterans, for instance. It is unclear to me if it covers physical or sexual harassment or other forms of sexual misconduct that may be settled through ethics investigations and then through the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights.
requests. I believe it is important to the House of Representatives to have transparency so that people know there wasn't a mistake in the 2018 law—or maybe there was an intentional omission in the 2018 law where several claims could escape the new requirement in 2018 that Congressmen pay back certain settlements and that these certain settlements be reported.
resolution that is only two pages. I would urge my colleagues to vote for this in the interest of transparency and openness. We need to know what has been going on here in the House of Representatives in order to convince and assure the people that we are conducting the people's business with the utmost integrity and treating the officers and employees of this institution with the respect that they deserve.
Mr. Speaker, I urge adoption of this resolution, and I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Without objection, the previous question is ordered on the resolution.
There was no objection.
The question is on adoption of the resolution.
The question was taken; and the Speaker pro tempore announced that the ayes appeared to have it.
Mr. MASSIE. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.
The yeas and nays were ordered.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX, further proceedings on this question are postponed.